Arguments of an Insane Heart
by Sihaya
Summary: L/OC prologue posted! R/R please! Kulina is betrothed, but then Legolas comes to visit Rivendell. Friends are thrown into a turmoil of love and betrayal in a place where happy endings don't exist.


Arguments of an Insane Heart

~ 

_…His eyes light up and I melt within _

_Feels so good it must be a sin_

_I can't stop what I started_

_I'm giving in…_

_~Christina Aguilera~_

_~Infatuation~ _

~

"Kulinaaure! Open the door please," Ravenne said, tapping her closed fists on the door in an upbeat rhythm. Her long fingernails gleamed in the pale light that came in shafts through the windows. Ravenne sighed and wondered if her quiet friend would ever come out of her room. Kulina, or Aure, as her name was often shortened to, had gotten progressively quiet over the last few weeks and Ravenne had been worried. 

          "Kulinaaure, please come out, I have to talk to you," Ravenne said once more. Then she gave up and left the door. She walked for hours among the trees in the forests that bordered Rivendell until the bright sun sank below the trees and left the Elven city in darkness.

          Kulina had been sitting on the small balcony that she had claimed for her own. Her room opened out onto it. In her hand lay a charm, twisted of a gleaming silvery-blue stone. An unclassified gem glistened in the center, its luster not lost in the weak light that fought through the trees. Her eyes fluttered shut and she dozed for a while, the sun warming her face as she slept. The white curtains blew through the door, making whispering noises as they folded onto themselves. 

          Soon, however, a soft murmur slowly pulled her out of her reverie. "Nae saian luume," it said. "It has been too long." Kulina stirred and opened her eyes slowly. 

          "Falmar," she whispered. "You're back." Falmar, named for the breaking waves his father had longed to see, had been betrothed to Kulina for a hundred years, but they were waiting to commit because each of them were so young. 

          He leaned down and kissed her lightly, his tongue trailing across her lower lip. Kulina smiled and closed her eyes, touching Falmar's shoulder lightly. The fabric rustled as her fingertips brushed along his sleeve. She stood and her skirt fell into place, brushing against her hips as she moved slightly. 

          The kiss ended and Kulina smiled into her betrothed's eyes. "Did you have many adventures, then?" she asked playfully. Falmar smiled.

          "Too many to tell, now," he said. "I still have not been to my mother's home." His laugh rang out among the hills of the great city and lifted Kulina's heart from where it had been residing in the darkness since he had left her ten years ago. 

          "I missed you so much when you were away," she whispered. She smiled. "Your mother can wait." 

          Falmar grinned but shook his head slightly. "It wasn't that long a visit," he said. "Not for an Elf, anyway…" he leaned in next to her ear. "What's eternal life for if you can't use it?" he said mischievously. 

          Kulina laughed and through her head back. "You should have been named Ulukrauko! You truly are an evil demon," she said.

          "Come," said Falmar, pulling her hand slightly. "We must go see _amilinya_." 

          They slowly walked along the shaded streets. Falmar's mother, Istimanisse, ran to greet her son. "Falmar, _tula sinome_!" she cried as she pulled him into a teary embrace. "Tell me all the news from Mirkwood." 

          "Things are fine, and everything is settled," said Falmar. Kulina listened intently, for Falmar had not told her of his adventures in the faraway lands that he had visited during his travels. 

          "We are also having a visitor, soon," said Falmar. "The Prince, Legolas Greenleaf. He is newly returned from his voyages to the sea and wishes to visit Elrond and his family."

          "When is the Prince coming?" asked Kulina, for she had heard of his amazing skills with weaponry and his bravery during the great Quest of which they all knew of. 

          "Before the rising of the _sinya isil,_ the New Moon, which comes to the heavens within the week," said Falmar, shaking his head in disbelief. "Only the fastest of steeds would bear him here in time." Istimanisse, however, was only concerned with her own son and knew naught of the glory of foreign princes.

          "My son, you must take a bath," she said, waving her hand comically in front of her nose. "You reek of dirt and dung and foul things. _Vanne sii!_" she said, waving him off. He disappeared into the house, leaving his mother and his fiancée behind. After a moment passed, Istimanisse sighed and laid a hand on Kulina's shoulder. "Ah, Kulinaaure," she said. "May the Valar keep you."

          "What do you mean?" said Kulina curiously at the woman's odd words.

Istimanisse looked into Kulina's eyes, reading the spirit within. Kulina drew in a breath and held it by her heard for a moment before Istimanisse looked away. 

          "_Suule nante iltulka,_" she said. "Be sure that nothing tears you away from your own truths," she said. "I must go. The night is come." Her eyes roved the darkening sky, and fell to where the sky shone a vibrant pink and a blinding yellow as the sun died behind the far away mountaintops. 

          A trembling breath fought through Kulina's lips. "I don't know of what you speak," she said. 

          "Ah, my child, it is but glimpses," said Istimanisse sadly. "I see sadness in your future, my child," she said sadly, "but also a great, great happiness that nothing can touch save the love of another." 

          The two stood in silence for a moment, and then the old woman sent Kulina home. She drifted through the night towards her own home, through the silent avenues of the ancient city. 

~

          The next sun rose with a surprise- the prince from Mirkwood had arrived in the middle of the night and was sleeping in a room in Elrond's home. Kulina felt a stir of interest as her friend Ravenne told her of the spectacle- sometimes it was suspected the Ravenne never slept. Ravenne had been awake in the midnight hour to witness the Prince's arrival.

"His hair is more brilliant then anything I have ever seen!" said Ravenne. "And I could not get close, for his escort was surrounding him, but his face was like those of the ancient warriors that roamed the lands before the dawn of man!" her voice rang with excitement, but the feeling was somewhat muted in Kulina. She supposed that it was because she had already found her heart's place in Falmar, and was then somewhat immune to the charms of other men.

          "What is wrong, Kulina? You look pale," said Ravenne. 

          "Nothing is wrong," she said softly. "Sometimes I wonder if I am really right in marrying Falmar, is all."

          "You haven't even seen him yet and already you are in love!" cried Ravenne. 

          "_Dina!  Be silent! _I am not in love with him!" laughed Kulina. 

          "You will be once you lay eyes on him," declared Ravenne. "Every unwed woman in the city will be," said pronounced, her eyes twinkling. "Even the married woman will be, I think," she said.

          "You're terrible," said Kulina.

          "Come," said Ravenne. "We must go see the Prince." 

          And with the new day, the two friends set out on a long road that would take them far, not necessarily to distant lands but to places that they never even knew existed. Their hearts had unconsciously begun on a journey that summer morning, and they would never return from it…

~~~

A/N- I hope you liked it! Come back soon!

Disclaimer- yada yada yada. You know what I own and what JRR Tolkien does. 


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